Toyota and BMW make entirely different types of vehicles. Comparing them is not straightforward. BMW focuses on performance and luxury. On the contrary, Toyota focuses on reliability.
Many people are car enthusiasts. They enjoy driving. They want constant feedback from the road through the steering wheel, gas pedal, or accelerator. They want to feel the power, cornering, and acceleration. They want a nice interior and superior technology.
These people want an experience. They are not on the market to save money.
Therefore, in the sense of driving dynamics, performance, and luxury, BMW is better. But in the sense of reliability, Toyota is better long term.
Toyotas are designed to handle one of the harshest and most challenging road and weather conditions, especially for 3rd world countries. On the contrary, BMWs are designed for 1st world country roads and excellent weather. For example, the BMWs start to rust quickly, whereas a 10-year-old Toyota would hardly rust.
Germans roads and drivers’ driving is entirely different from Japanese roads, environment, and driving style. Japanese streets are narrow, more urbanized, and have more start-stop traffic. Therefore, the car’s design and style are also different.
Germans owners want a powerful, sporty, luxury vehicle. On the contrary, Japanese owners want a vehicle that takes them from point A to B and doesn’t break too often.
BMW makes luxury and sporty vehicles. It’s known in the car industry that the more sporty a car is, the less reliable it gets. BMWs are not reliable long-term. It’s over-engineered, making it too complicated and susceptible to many failure points.
Even though BMW’s ride and drive quality are excellent, these vehicles often break, and maintenance costs are excruciatingly high. BMW achieves performance at the expense of longevity and reliability. The higher the performance of the BMW, the less reliable it will be.
On the contrary, Toyota makes family and daily drive vehicles. They don’t make luxury or performance vehicles. All they care about is reliability.
BMW depreciates faster than Toyota. It’s primarily because BMW is more costly to maintain than Toyota, and BMW parts break.
Typically BMW is better for lease than to own. This way, an owner doesn’t have to assume all the long-term heavy repair expenses.
The best BMW is to drive someone else’s BMW. There’s a joke; if you drive a BMW, you will feel the magic behind those machines. But once you take it to a dealer for repair, you will realize it was dark magic.
The design of Toyota and BMW comes from their respective cultures. After the second world war, Japanese people heavily invested in quality. Every Japanese product is reliable. On the contrary, German engineering is all about over-engineering. They aren’t as rigorous in quality as Japanese brands.
The interior of BMWs — the seats, comforts, electronics — will always be better than a Toyota, while Toyota interiors are average-looking. But BMWs are twice as expensive too.
As an owner, leasing a BMW while under warranty is better. Once the lease is up after 36 months, get rid of the vehicle and get a new one. However, for a used car buyer, it means a nightmare. Used BMWs are cheap for a reason.
BMWs are expensive, but it also requires the highest octane gasoline because of the performance engine. Low octane gasoline will deteriorate the engine faster.
The insurance premiums of BMWs are also higher compared to Toyotas.
Lexus is a luxury brand car from Toyota. These vehicles are reliable but come with a BMW quality interior.
If you are a potential buyer and want to purchase a luxury vehicle, you should compare a Tesla and BMW. Both of these vehicles are expensive, luxurious, and require costly maintenance.
On the contrary, if you want a day to day drive reliable vehicle, Toyota is the most trusted brand.
A new Toyota, even without maintenance, would last more than 100,000 miles. And with proper care would easily last for more than 300,000 miles or 15 Years. On the contrary, A BMW starts to show age after 36 months.
There are Applebees, KFC, Burger King, and McDonald’s. There are also fancy restaurants. All of them sell food, but still, people eat at high-end restaurants for experience and memorable occasions.
When people have money, they want to live in million-dollar homes in a fancy neighborhood and like a fancy expensive car. At this stage, they buy these BMW Audi cars not for their dependability but for their prestige and experience. If someone has a million dollars, why would they settle with a Toyota?
However, long-term BMWs are a money pit. Never buy a used BMW unless you plan to spend a lot of money on costly repair bills. Because many don’t even consider and count on how much money it costs to own a used BMW.
BMWs and other German brand cars are the most unreliable in the world.
Every new BMW has an extensive 3-4 Year warranty. Everything is covered under it. However, BMW starts to break after 5 Years. Therefore, a new owner who keeps their vehicle for less than 5 years would not face any problems, but an owner who buys an old BMW will encounter all the issues.
BMW sacrifices its reliability for luxury and comfort. In contrast, Toyota sacrifices luxury for reliability.
BMWs are not designed to last longer than 100,000 miles. But a Toyota can easily last longer than 300,000 miles with minimal maintenance.
BMWs are too complicated to be at fault. Toyota’s engine, transmission, and other parts have a higher tolerance. They design their vehicles keeping in mind how their customer would use the car. But BMW makes high precision engines and transmission, and their tolerance is extremely low. Thus BMW vehicles are finicky.
Bottom Line:
Comparison between Toyota and BMW is never fair. It’s two types of vehicles made for two groups of owners. Both companies sell millions of cars each year. Therefore, both have enthusiasts.
If someone wants a reliable vehicle, Toyota is better. BMW is better if someone wants a comfortable ride quality and a luxury vehicle.
